A Texas man whose case drew the attention of Pope Francis has become the first prisoner to be executed in the state in 2016.

Richard Masterson, 43, had claimed the strangulation of Darin Shane Honeycutt in January 2001 was an accident which took place during a chokehold that was part of a sex act.

At his trial, he testified that the two had met at a bar and then gone to Mr Honeycutt's apartment.

But court records showed he confessed to police, told others about the killing and admitted Mr Honeycutt - an entertainer who dressed as a woman and went under the stage name Brandi Houston - was killed on purpose in a letter to the Texas attorney general in 2012.

Image Caption:Texas executed 13 prisoners in 2015 - nearly half the US total

Masterson was pronounced dead 25 minutes after a lethal injection was administered.

His final words were: "I'm all right with this. Sometimes you have to live and die by the choices you make.

"I made mine and I'm paying for it."

He then mouthed a kiss to relatives and friends watching the execution and told them he loved them.

Texas is America's busiest death penalty state, with 13 lethal injections carried out in 2015 - nearly half of the 28 executions nationwide.

Evidence showed Masterson stole Mr Honeycutt's car, dumped it in Georgia, and was arrested at a mobile home park in Florida more than a week later with another stolen car.

Image Caption:Pope Francis is an opponent of the death penalty

That car belonged to a man from Tampa who testified he was robbed by Masterson, but survived a similar sex act in which he was choked.

Lawyers for Masterson had argued Mr Honeycutt's death was accidental or the result of a heart attack and that his prolonged drug use and subsequent withdrawal in jail contributed to his "suicide by confession" when he spoke to police.

Last-minute efforts to stop his execution were rejected on Wednesday.

His case gained the attention of Pope Francis during his visit to the US in 2015, who reinforced the Catholic Church's opposition to capital punishment.

Pope Francis had been closely following Masterson's case, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn said at a news conference earlier this week.

At least eight other Texas death row inmates have executions scheduled this year, including one next week.